Correlations Between Cerebral and Cortical Parameters in the Developing and Mature Rat Brain

The measurement of only one brain parameter at a specific age does not allow one to draw conclusions about the overall development of the cortex; however, any such measurements are better correlated with cerebral weights and thicknesses in the mature animal.

Abstract

Body and brain parameters were measured in the newborns, 10 days old and mature rats. In the rostral sections of the newborn brains, cortical areas, cortical thickness in all positions measured, and cerebral widths were significantly correlated with each other; cortical thicknesses were also well correlated with cerebral weights. In the 10 days olds, the rostral and some caudal sections show significant correlation between each pair of the cortical thicknesses, and between cortical thicknesses and cerebral widths; at this age, body weight is also correlated with cerebral weight and with almost every one of the rostral and caudal cortical thicknesses, as well as with the caudal cerebral width. In the mature animal, all these correlations tend to become obscured by the general body and brain growth. In general, the measurement of only one brain parameter at a specific age does not allow one to draw conclusions about the overall development of the cortex; however, any such measurements are better correlated at birth or at 10 days than in the mature brain.